Cyclone Murasu crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast early on Tuesday, November 3, and left broken trees, flooded roads and damaged boats behind it. No deaths had been reported by Tuesday morning, officials said.
Updated: November 3, 2026, 10:30 AM IST
Quick Read
- Landfall happened between 3:30 AM and 5:30 AM near Ongole, with winds of 100-110 kmph and gusts up to 120 kmph, per the IMD bulletin.
- Bapatla and Prakasam districts took the worst hit: trees fell, power poles broke, crops were damaged and low areas went under water.
- At least 19 flights were cancelled at Vijayawada, Tirupati and Visakhapatnam airports, and the storm is set to weaken by noon.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the severe cyclonic storm crossed the south Andhra coast between Nellore and Narsapur, close to Ongole. An earlier IMD note had put the start of landfall at 1 AM. The later bulletin gave the full crossing window as 3:30 AM to 5:30 AM. Readers should use the later window. That change in timing is our first note of care: early storm reports often move as new radar data comes in.
In Bapatla and Prakasam, heavy rain and strong wind hit homes and farms through the night. People in coastal villages told reporters that thatched roofs broke and fishing boats were wrecked. One fisherman said one of his three boats was fully destroyed. Fishing is his family’s work, so one lost boat is a direct hit on income, not just a broken object.
What the state did before landfall
Andhra Pradesh moved people out of low, risky areas before the storm arrived. Odisha also moved more than 1.60 lakh people to safety in five southern districts and put disaster teams on standby. That early move is one reason no deaths were reported in the first hours. Evacuation does not stop damage to crops and boats, but it does save lives.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu checked power and relief work in a teleconference on Tuesday morning. Energy officials told him no power poles had fallen in the areas they checked and no power supply disruption was reported at that point. That claim sits next to other reports of hundreds of broken poles. Both can be true in different districts at different times, but readers in a dark home should trust their local supply office, not a state-level update.
What happens next today
The IMD said Murasu will weaken into a cyclonic storm by noon on Tuesday and into a deep depression by midnight. Heavy to very heavy rain is still likely at a few places in coastal Andhra, with extremely heavy rain at isolated spots. Fishermen are advised not to go to sea till the morning of November 4, and offshore work stays suspended till IMD reviews the warning.
Roads in Vijayawada were waterlogged on Tuesday morning, and vehicles were stuck on highways in poor visibility. If you must travel in coastal Andhra today, check the road and train status first, carry water and charge your phone, and do not drive through flooded stretches. Water depth on a road is hard to judge from a car seat.
Desk check: we compared the IMD crossing window, the flight-cancellation count, and the Odisha evacuation figure across The Hindu, The Federal, Telegraph India and Moneycontrol live blogs. Where the reports used the same agency copy, we counted them as one source, not four. The storm-surge warning of 1 to 1.5 metres for low areas of south coastal Andhra came from the IMD note quoted in those reports.
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Frequently asked questions
Q: Where did Cyclone Murasu make landfall?
A: Near Ongole, between Nellore and Narsapur on the south Andhra coast, between 3:30 AM and 5:30 AM on November 3, per the IMD.
Q: Were there any deaths?
A: No deaths or injuries had been reported by Tuesday morning in the reports we checked. That can change as district teams finish checks.
Q: When will the storm weaken?
A: The IMD expects it to weaken into a cyclonic storm by noon on November 3 and into a deep depression by midnight.
Next update: district damage counts and the rainfall totals for Bapatla and Prakasam, when the state releases them.
